Hey all. well, ive got two red dragons growing in their own seperate hydro buckets w/ a drip ring. their in about the fourth week of budding under a 600 watt hps and the ph is about 5.7. So, im noticing some weird brown spotting and yellowing begining to appear around the leaves of the top buds, and im not sure if its because their not getting enough nutrients or getting too much. Ive had problems with nutrient burns in the past (notice the yellow leaves on the lower part of the plant) so ive actually been adding just under the recommended amount for my fox farm nutrients. Any suggestions?
it looks more like Nute Burn or pH Lockout than a deficiency to me... when was the last time you dumped your res? do you know what ppms you're running?
I don't think it's as simple as "more nitrogen." My guess here is an MG problem, probably causing a complimentary CA problem, ultimately resulting in a kind of light burn. This is probably a pH fluctuation issue, maybe you are adding your nutrients right after mixing when they need a few hours to settle down. Though it could be that the plant needs more Cal/Mag than Fox Farms is providing. My solution to you is to keep your FF where it is but to start adding 4ml/gallon (1ml/L) of Botanicare's Cal-Mag plus. If the problem continues to worsen you'll need to back off the Fox Farms even more, but the Cal-Mag is always a good investment. Wish I'd made it a while before I finally did.
[smoove] Unfortunately i have no idea what my ppm is, the only measurement tool i have is some crappy ph dip-sticks and i always just keep that right under 6. and the last time i dumped my res was on the 25th when i did a salt leaching cycle as well. ( i do a salt leaching cycle every two weeks with clearex) [2Lazy] Interesting, are you saying its bad to put nutrients into the system right after ive mixed them with fresh water? Fox Farm nutrients are so thick that usually if i wait more than five minutes I get a thick sludge at the bottom of my container i use to fill my plants. Ill for sure give it a shot though.... That botanicare stuff sounds nice, ill check out the local hydro shop and see what they got. Also, on top of the normal fox farm nutrients (big bloom, tiger bloom, grow big) i use the special solubles (cha- ching, beastie blooms, open sesame) so my question is, should i add these solubles at the same time as my normal nutrients, or should they be mixed thouroughly and added later? Thanks a bunch all.
I could be wrong about the letting it sit. I've heard anywhere from 30 minutes to 24 hours. It has more to do with microbiotic activity than anything else, so for just a pure chem grow you're probably in the 30 minute club. As far as the sludge goes I've never encountered that. I also haven't used the soluble nutrients, just the liquid ones. Why are you using so many different nutrients? Do you know what each does? Do you have a reason for each? I don't think they are intended to be used all together like you are.
This problem is hard to diagnose, based on the shiny green on your leaves, I'm wondering if your spraying your plants with neem. I have found after spraying with neem if its too strong a mix, the light can burn the leaves. Just my 02.
and worth about .02! I would hope he isn't spraying with neem 4 weeks into flowering... I've had similar rusty spots on my leaves recently and from everything I've seen/read I think its a nute lockout caused by PH being off. But you say you've got your PH under control.... isn't 6 on the high end of the scale for hydro?
agreed, ph should be around 5.3-5.5 max, but the diagnosis i would give is that you have a mag def and too much potasium in the mix , just my opinion though
[2 lazy] heh, Im basically going by whats recommended by the foxfarm grow chart, even a little less, like i said. Ive been using this type of nutrient regimen for about a year now through five grows. only in this grow and my last one did i see problems so im not about to chalk it up to the nutrients just yet. but now that i read into it i think im gonna start lowering my ph even a little more and keep it closer to five and see how that does me. and dont worry coltrane im not spraying my plants with neem oil.